


Short and Sweet

by SweetsThief (DarkMuffin)



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Also Robin and lon qu, Basillio is also mentioned briefly, Gaius is the barista at the coffee place nearby, M/M, Stahl is a Uni student, This is my second story I'm dying but maybe you'll find it amusing to read, You do the math, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 10:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6370891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMuffin/pseuds/SweetsThief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But maybe he wouldn't be so distracted if that damned Uni student kept coming in and staring at him every day.</p>
<p>Coffee shop au ft obvious Stahl and "my-god-did-it-really-take-you-this-long-to-notice-stahl-likes-you" Gaius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Short and Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Two stories with this giant nerd of a thief in two days is a record even for me but hey have some trashy drabble of the two food nerds of Ylisse now in coffee shop au (tm)

This was the fifth time today that Gaius had burned his hand on the coffee machine. It wasn't his fault though, oh no. 

It wasn't _his_ fault that he had also dropped at least two plates of scones and one rather already precarious fruit bowl in the past two weeks alone. No, no not at all.

_But maybe he wouldn't be so distracted if that damned uni student kept coming in and staring at him every day._

It was about a year after Gaius managed to snag his own position at the coffee house. Or at least, what was supposed to be a coffee house. It was what he told everyone at least, saying it also doubled as a small library and study place for the students on campus nearby was a bit of a mouthful for him anyway. Short and sweet was how he liked it, just like his coffee. And everything was doing just fine until Stahl decided to make it practically his second home.

There wasn't a day that went by Gaius wouldn't see the aspiring student flipping through page after page, looking far too relaxed with his studies in his own little self claimed corner of the shop. A spot that just happened to be always in perfect view of whoever was unlucky enough to be serving up coffees, something that Gaius had unfortunately gotten the hang of. At least he _would_ have the hang of it if not for those damned eyes always looking at him when they think his back is turned.

Maybe it was the headband, Gaius figures at first. Most people find it odd for him to wear it, Robin always tried to fix it for him whenever they stopped by, but the fight was always in vain. Gaius never really cared if it got in his way, it was something he'd just always done, much to Robin's annoyance.

But after a week went by and he still caught the other throwing glances his way, Gaius knew something else was up. 

He couldn't exactly go up and ask him why, Basilio would most likely make Gaius into the next "day's special" if he left his post. Plus the damn guy never ordered when Gaius was on register anyway, which was odd within itself. He only knew his name from having to read his reciepts every other time he wanted yet _another_ mocha with extra sugar. Maybe if he wrote something on the coffee cup? Nah, that'd be creepy. Plus Lon'qu confiscated all the markers from him after he doodled a rather crude drawing of the scowling co worker. In his defense, Basilio heartily approved of it.

Maybe he thought Gaius was hot, and he mentally snickered as he realised that yeah, anyone working near a boiling machine brewing coffee all day would no doubt, _be pretty hot._

Gaius turned his gaze back over to Stahl's corner, who was engaged in an intense staring contest with what appeared to be math notes. As they sighed in defeat and brushed the papers to the side, he knocked over a stray doughnut that had managed to escape the utter carnage Gaius had seen this guy unleash on most of his food, and it landed with a soft 'plop' on its side before rolling towards the main counter. Stahl didn't notice his cinnamon coated snack had left before it was too late, and Gaius slid out from behind the counter and picked up the baked treat.

"Looks like your little friend got away from you, Bookworm." Gaius managed to emphasize with a sly smile, maybe now he'd get some answers from this kid. He took a quick glance towards the kitchen, spying Basilio occupied with a Feroxi fighting match on the old tv above the fridge, before slinking over to Stahl.

"Oh! Yeah, um, sorry." He reached up and carefully picked the doughnut from Gaius' outstretched hand, taking a moment to dust it off. Gaius knew full well the floors were cleaner then anything else in the room, after 3 hours of non-stop scrubbing at the 'request' of Basilio. But he opted to keep his sass to the side for now. He had to keep this conversation flowing before the Feroxi match took an ad break and he'd be cleaning floors for the next millienia.

"What'cha reading there?" His eyes caught the jumble of half hazardly jenga-stacked books crowding Stahl's table. He raised an eyebrow at the crumbs scattered across nearly every page, but said nothing.

"Oh, nothing much really! Just some old textbooks I found in the back shelves. It's ok if I look at them, right?" Stahl's face slightly scrunched up as he gave a nervous look towards the books. Gaius just shrugged, he never really cared about the books around the shop, he was just there to make coffee. Fortunately, Stahl seemed to relax a little at the dramatic roll of Gaius' shoulders and the barista took note of the freckles dotting the student's bright cheeks.

"I'm Stahl by the way, it's nice to meet you!" Gaius looked over the Ylisse University symbol emblazed upon Stahl's jacket sleeve as they stuck out their hand, before offering up his own coffee stained palm.

"Ditto." Gaius flashed a bright grin at the other, slipping his hand back into his apron pockets once he'd given the warm welcome. "Though I couldn't help but notice you always looking at me when you hang around." And Stahl laughed nervously, a hand moving up to rub behind his neck. 

"At least when you're not glaring at your books that is." Gaius finished with a wink and a mischievous smile, that grew wider as Stahl laughed more genuinely. He definitely didn't take note of how that laugh sounded like bells in the night sky, no way.

"Ah...was I that obvious?" Stahl gave a smile sheepish enough to put a real one to shame. "Sorry, if it bothered you it's just...well...oh gosh how do I put this..."

Gaius leaned back and smiled as Stahl rambled to himself under his breath, his hand moving up to fiddle with his already mussed up hair and fidgeting on his feet. The barista managed to hear a quiet mumble of 'oh gods I didn't expect to get this far I wish Sully was here or even Olivia oh gosh' and Gaius knew then what to do.

"5."

"Huh?"

"I get off work at 5." Gaius could almost see his own scheming smirk reflected in Stahl's puzzled eyes. He made a mental note of how deep they looked, he wondered if he could swim in them. "I know a good hangout a few blocks down from here."

"Oh! O-oh sure! That sounds great! I'll just uh, go for a walk until then I guess. It'd be a bit awkward to sit here while you work until then haha..." Gaius had never seen someone back pedal so fast in his life, he couldn't stop chuckling as the boy with the oddly charming bird's nest of a hairstyle hastily stuffed all his school notes back into his bag and shifted his hoard of books off to the side. Flashing a shy smile and whispering a quiet 'thank you' to the amused barista before he slipped out of sight beyond the shop entrance, the bell chiming softly as Gaius was left to himself.

He let out a breath he didn't realise he'd held that whole time, busying himself with cleaning up after Stahl and wondering if he could sneak out a fresh box of vanilla slices from work to share without Basilio noticing.

Somewhere, Stahl leaned against a dusty brick wall watching the campus' clock tower like a hawk, and felt like his chest would burst.


End file.
